1. Field of Invention
This disclosure generally relates to a displayed user interface for consumer electronic devices, and more specifically to activating the user interface using a remote controller including a touchpad.
2. Description of Related Art
There are numerous websites that contain media content, e.g., video, imagery, audio, video conferencing, and the like. The media content ranges from major news, sports, movie and entertainment sites, to home video clips, personal photo collections, and the full range of sites between. In general, with such websites, a mouse-like pointing device is used to interact with the media content, and the content is viewed on a display coupled to a personal computer.
Recently, consumer electronic devices have started to be configured as connected media devices, e.g., connected Blu-Ray players, media adaptors, connected televisions, digital video recorders, and cable boxes. In contrast with the personal computing devices that use a mouse-like pointing device to interact with the content, when interacting with content via these consumer electronic devices, a handheld remote control device is typically used that can navigate a displayed menu in a limited number of directions such as left, right, up, and down. Consequently, media content developed for viewing on a personal computer may not be easily viewed via a consumer electronic device because the media content may not be able to be navigated easily or at all with a handheld remote control device. Furthermore, the typical handheld remote control device includes numerous buttons to control the different operations that can be performed by the consumer electronic device. In order to press a particular button, a user may need to read a label on the button or the buttons may require backlighting that consumes more power. Overall, the typical handheld remote control is less intuitive and more cumbersome than a typical mouse-like pointing device.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is a device that can be used to more intuitively control how content is viewed when interacting with the content via a consumer electronic device. Additionally, it is desirable to produce a low cost pointer device that can control a consumer electronic device.